Maybe your life resembles a Bethlehem stable. Crude in some spots, smelly in others. Not much glamour. Not always neat. People in your circle remind you of stable animals: grazing like sheep, stubborn like donkeys, and that cow in the corner looks a lot like the fellow next door. You, like Joseph, knocked on the innkeeper's door. But you were too late. Or too old, sick, dull, damaged, poor, or peculiar. You know the sound of a slamming door.

No place is too common. No person is too hardened. No distance is too far. There's no person God cannot reach. There's no limit to his love.

God sends his angels to protect us and his Word as a star to guide us. Then he surrounds us with his grace. We become his depot, the distribution point of God's gifts.

God's mercies are new every morning. Receive them.

I think "creative preaching" is redundant.

It's important to preach like there's a broken heart on every pew. That's always been a phrase that stuck with me. Not everybody is having a tough time, but you can bet your buck that there's a good tenth of your church that's going through a hard season. There really is a broken heart on every pew.

I think you have to be very careful about any story that puffs you up.